


The Magic of Midwinter

by shadowsong26



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 01:51:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13179861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowsong26/pseuds/shadowsong26
Summary: A little more than a year after the start of the Clone Wars, Padme, Obi-Wan, and Anakin celebrate Naboo's Midwinter together.





	The Magic of Midwinter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PoliticalPadmé (magnetgirl)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnetgirl/gifts).



> Written for JediFest December Drabbles exchange; Prompt: ObiAniDala, Holiday

It was the hottest, muggiest part of summer in the Senate District on Coruscant, but it was Midwinter in Theed, the turning of the year; and, for the first time in ages, Padme was genuinely excited about the holiday.

She wasn’t particularly invested in holidays, for the most part, at least not for their own sake. She _had_  been, back when she was a very little girl and all the fireworks and spectacle had still seemed magical.

But then she’d been elected Queen, and holidays—especially the major civic holidays; which were the ones that had come with the spectacle she’d loved as a child—had been Ceremonial Occasions; making them additional, _stressful_  workdays. It was, after all, a little harder to enjoy the celebration when _she_  was as much a part of the display as the fireworks. True, that had gotten easier after she left the Palace—a Senator had fewer ceremonial duties to carry out than a Queen—but she still found most holidays more of a duty than something to sit back and enjoy.

This year, though—this year was different.

Last year, for Naboo’s Midwinter, she and Anakin had already been married, of course; but he’d been in the field (unconscious on Maridun, as she’d found out a couple weeks later). And Obi-Wan—Obi-Wan hadn’t been with them yet.

But _this_  year, she had them both; and, miraculously, both Anakin and Obi-Wan would be on Coruscant, which meant that she could share the holiday and welcome the new year with them.

It hadn’t been easy to get everything set up in the wrong local season, especially on very short notice (Obi-Wan had only gotten back from the front yesterday, and Anakin had confirmed he was on his way just this morning). But she and her handmaidens had managed to pull together something beautiful all the same. Dorme had acquired three brand-new, if mismatched, candles in a market several levels down; Motee had unearthed several yards of silvery-white fabric from storage that made the apartment look appropriately festive, along with a matching altar cloth for the table; Teckla had even managed to find winter berries to weave into Padme’s hair—fabric, of course; but dusted with glitter so they’d shimmer once they had the candles lit.

Everything was in place by sundown, with Motee’s gauze looking almost like drifts of snow on the couch and along the walls, and the candles lined up in a neat row on the cleared off and repurposed caf table in the sitting room. All that was left to do was wait for her boys to come home.

Obi-Wan arrived first; coming in through the balcony door a couple hours after full dark. Which, at this time of year, meant just over an hour before midnight.

He smiled when she came to greet him; warm blue eyes crinkling at the corners in a way that demanded a smile in response.

“You look lovely,” he said, bending to kiss her hand.

“So do you,” she said, pulling him up and kissing him properly. “I’m so glad you could come.”

“I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be tonight,” he said. “Anakin is running a little later than expected, but he should be here soon. By midnight. Which, if I understand correctly, is the important part?”

Because of course he’d found the time to research exactly what a Naboo Midwinter was about. Anakin almost certainly wouldn’t have, but it didn’t really matter, as long as he was _here._

“More or less,” she said. “Not that we’re having an especially traditional Midwinter anyway, it’s too hot outside so we’re skipping a few steps.” She grinned, and added, “Threepio is positively _scandalized.”_

He laughed at that, warm and pleased. “Oh, yes, I can imagine.”

She kissed him again, then tugged him over to the couch. “Come on, sit with me,” she said. “It’s been weeks, and I miss you.”

“I’ve missed you, too,” he said, sitting next to her; then hesitated a second before pulling her to lean against him. “We both have,” he added, murmuring it into her hair.

She smiled and said nothing; just closed her eyes and let her head rest on his shoulder, enjoying his closeness, and a quiet moment to just breathe together.

Anakin finally joined them with less than ten minutes to go before midnight; Obi-Wan shifted and looked up a half second before Padme heard his quick, familiar footsteps on the balcony.

“Sorry,” he said, a little breathless. “Sorry, I know I’m late, debrief took longer than I expected and I couldn’t exactly explain where I needed to be and—”

“It’s fine,” Padme said, uncurling just enough to hold out a hand and draw him over to the couch with her and Obi-Wan. “You’re here, we’re all together, that’s what really matters.”

He nodded, relaxing a little, and leaned over to kiss first her, then Obi-Wan.

“And, hey,” he said, with that mischievous, crooked little grin that always made her go weak at the knees. “I _did_ make it before midnight.”

“Yes,” Obi-Wan said, with a small, fond smile of his own. “You did. But only just. We should probably get started?” he added, glancing over at Padme.

“Probably,” she said, and stood up a little reluctantly. It was all too rare that she got the chance to just curl up on the couch and _be_ with either one of them. Especially Obi-Wan, since she’d had a full year less to find opportunities with him. So, even if it had been just on the edge of getting uncomfortable on the muggy night, she hadn’t wanted the moment to end just yet.

“Great,” Anakin said. “What do you need me to do?”

“Turn off all the lights,” she said, “and at midnight, we light the candles and make a wish, for good fortune in the new year.”

There was usually more to it than that, of course, for a full Traditional Midwinter, with a ritual meal and other ceremonies throughout the day. But even aside from the heat outside making parts of it impractical, they simply hadn’t had _time_  to do most of that that, let alone for all the planning that would have been involved. And, like Obi-Wan had said, this was the important part, anyway; to stand with the people you love and step into the future together.

“Got it,” Anakin said; and he and Obi-Wan went through the room, putting out all the lights and drawing the blinds to leave the room in as close to total darkness as they could. Padme, in the meantime, carefully smoothed imaginary wrinkles out of the cloth on her makeshift altar and made sure the three candles were straight in their holders.

And then—and then her two Jedi rejoined her, one on either side, and there was a moment of quiet in the dark, with the hum of traffic outside fading into the background. It was as if all three of them were holding their breath, waiting as the seconds counted down. She felt Anakin’s fingers shyly twine with hers, just as they had on their wedding day fifteen months before. Obi-Wan was settled on her other side, calm and steady; leaning into her just a little.

The _magic_  of the holiday—of this holiday, with the two people she loved most in all the galaxy beside her—filled the air like nothing she’d ever felt before.

After that seemingly endless, suspended moment, the chrono on the wall chimed softly, breaking the spell and releasing the tension in the air, and Padme struck a match and lit the candle in the center.

She closed her eyes briefly. _I wish,_  she thought; _I wish…I wish we can be here again next year, and every Midwinter for years and years to come. The three of us, together, warm and safe and happy._

She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, then lifted her candle and lit the others—first Anakin’s, then Obi-Wan’s. “The darkest heart of winter has passed,” she said, trying to sound like her father had, when she was a little girl. “May this spark we share, this first light of the new year, guide our way to a bright and joyful future.”

“May it be so,” Obi-Wan murmured, which was the correct ritual response; Anakin echoed him, half a breath behind.

“Happy New Year,” she said, setting her candle down so she could wrap an arm around each of their waists and hold them close. “I love you.”

“I love you,” Obi-Wan replied.

Anakin’s answer was a kiss; he reached across her for Obi-Wan, and she felt their joined hands settle into the small of her back and smiled, her eyes drifting shut again as she basked in their presence and their love.

In a moment, the heat of Coruscant’s summer would reassert itself and they’d have to detangle themselves, but for now…for now the magic of Midwinter held sway, and the warm glow from the candles wrapped them in a moment of simple, perfect peace.


End file.
